GK
Senior Unity Developer · Forbes Europe 30 Under 30
forbes.com/profile/gokhan-kinay $1M+ VERIFIED
Gökhan KINAY, senior Unity developer based in Tallinn

Gökhan KINAY
Senior Unity Developer

I write C# and build mobile games in Unity. Based in Tallinn, Estonia.

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About

Chapter One

2014 to 2023

  • Studied computer science at Bursa Uludağ University (2013 to 2016) and started making games in my first year.
  • Freelance work from 2016, then MUBU Games (2017 to 2018) and Midpoly Games (2018 to 2019) as a game developer.
  • Second place in a national TV game dev competition in Turkey (2019) with a multiplayer shooter, server written in TypeScript.
  • Signed with Rollic (acquired by Zynga) and shipped 30+ games that I coded myself.
  • Founded Trifles Games and bootstrapped it to $1M+ revenue, no VC or angel money, with a 29 person team.
  • Featured on Forbes Europe 30 Under 30 in 2023

Chapter Two

2024 to now

In early 2024 I moved to Tallinn with my wife Aslıhan. Estonia put us inside the European ecosystem, closer to the studios and markets we wanted to work with.

Here we started Force Games. I coded Tile Aura on my own, Aslıhan did the design, and the game made $120K before we sold it in 2026. Since then we have been building the next thing from our base in Tallinn, staying hands-on with Unity and C#.

Follow on LinkedIn
$1M+
Revenue at Trifles
29
Full-time team built
13+
Years with Unity
Forbes
30U30 · 2023
What I work with

Unity & C#

  • Unity since 3.5.7, up to Unity 6
  • C# and gameplay programming
  • 2D and 3D mobile games
  • Custom editor tools
  • iOS and Android store releases

Backend & live ops

  • PlayFab
  • Firebase
  • Remote config
  • A/B testing

Monetization

  • LevelPlay
  • AppLovin MAX
  • Appodeal
  • In-app purchases

Attribution & analytics

  • Adjust
  • AppsFlyer
  • Singular
  • Mixpanel
  • Firebase Analytics

English (fluent) · Turkish (native) · Estonian (beginner)

Chapter One · Trifles Games · 2014 to 2023

A studio in the heart of Istanbul.

I built Trifles Games from the ground up. Set up an office in Istanbul, grew the team from 0 to 29 people, shipped dozens of mobile games and partnered with publishers like Rollic and Homa Games.

We also self published our own games and ran serious user acquisition on them, including $250K+ in ad spend on Fashion Challenge alone.

Trifles Games studio in Istanbul, game wall in the lobby
Trifles Games studio workspace with the 29-person team

Studio tour

Gökhan KINAY speaking on stage about building Trifles Games from $0 to $1M
Keynote

Sharing how I built a mobile game studio from $0 to $1M+ in revenue.

Gökhan KINAY receiving a young entrepreneur award in Turkish tech
Award · Young Entrepreneur

Recognized as a standout young founder in Turkish tech.

Recognition
Forbes Europe · 2023

Forbes Europe 30 Under 30.

Named to the 2023 list alongside some of the most talented young founders and builders in Europe.

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Chapter Two · 2024 to Now
Gökhan KINAY and his wife Aslıhan after moving from Istanbul to Tallinn in 2024

We packed up Istanbul and moved to Tallinn.

New chapter · New country · New life

In 2024, my wife and I left Istanbul and moved to Estonia. Building a profitable company in Turkey was doable. Raising from serious investors and operating in a stable currency was not.

Tallinn put us inside the European startup ecosystem, closer to the funds, founders and markets we wanted to build for, without the dollar crisis and quarterly tax fights in the background.

Two years in, Tallinn feels like home. We are happy here, building a life together and finally working on the ideas we always wanted to chase.

Force Games · 2024 to 2026

Tile Aura

We started Force Games here in Tallinn. I coded Tile Aura, a relaxing tile matching puzzle game, on my own while Aslıhan handled the design. It made $120K in revenue and we sold it in 2026.

Tile Aura on the App Store
Contact

Let's connect. Say hi on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is the fastest way to reach me. I read every message.

Connect on LinkedIn Forbes profile